Headway – The brain injury association
The President, Annie Johnson, welcomed 6 members and 3 guests to the meeting. She introduced guest speaker, Glenys Marriott from Headway, the Brain Injury Association, and Anne Carruthers from Asby who came in support.
Ms Marriott began her most interesting talk by explaining that Headway provides support for people with head injuries, their families and carers. Problems resulting from both Traumatic and Acquired brain injuries could be very long-lasting, leading to the need for long-term rehabilitation. Headway aimed to provide individually-tailored packages of support for their clients, and others involved.
Loss of memory was a particular problem which could in some cases destroy a person’s identity. These days electronic devices, including Alexa!, and ‘helper dogs’ enabled folk to cope. Anne Carruthers detailed some of the strategies she uses to cope with a personal long term memory problem following a car accident.
Headway South Cumbria holds monthly social meetings in Kendal for those they are helping; arranges physical activities and other outings for them and, where relevant, refers their clients to agencies for advice and support for getting back to work.
The President thanked both ladies for an extremely interesting and revealing talk.
The raffle was won by Patricia Clark, one of the day’s guests, and refreshments were served by Annie Johnson and Helen Cooper.